✔️ 2022-04-24 16:01:58 – Paris/France.
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
High-end iPhones and some of the best Android smartphones might get all the attention, but midrange devices remain the bread and butter of every smartphone brand. Even Apple, the poster boy for luxury electronics, with the associated price tags, has long had a relatively affordable handset or two in the mix. The launch of the iPhone SE line cemented that position with a price and feature set that positioned it as the perfect first iPhone, an iPhone for kids, or even a second phone.
However, a lot has changed in the years since the iPhone SE hit the drawing board. On the one hand, there is no shortage of high-quality Android smartphones in the $300-$500 segment. Plus, it's possible to grab an older iPhone with a far superior feature set for not much more money. All that to say that I've spent the last two weeks with the iPhone SE (2022) thinking about how to accurately assess the handset. There's more to the phone than the hardware proposition suggests, and that requires taking a long, hard look at the bigger picture, which we'll do here. For a deep dive into the iPhone SE (2022), be sure to check out our in-depth review.
Vintage looks do the iPhone SE a disservice
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Consistency is something I've often emphasized when talking about the iPhone. I love the steady, reliable cadence of design and feature upgrades associated with iPhones. The iPhone 13 series didn't change much from the iPhone 12 family, and that was fine. The iPhone SE extends the idea of design consistency by a considerable margin, however.
Calling it a dated design is one thing, but the latest iPhone SE looks nearly identical to the iPhone 8, complete with thumbprint-sized bezels. On more than one occasion, friends have asked me why I was still using a five-year-old phone. Carrying a 2017 design through 2022 just isn't acceptable, even at this price point.
There's little justification for the iPhone SE's vintage look beyond forced product segmentation.
It's not that hard to theorize why Apple made this decision. The glitzy range of monitors and Macs recently launched shows that the company isn't exactly lazy when it comes to new designs. The only plausible answer is forced product segmentation. Clearly, Apple doesn't want to associate the avant-garde design of the iPhone 13 series with an affordable product. Regardless of the thought process, the new iPhone SE looks positively old compared to budget Android phones, let alone the more expensive ones.
The only saving grace here is the inclusion of Touch ID. Apple's fingerprint scanner is ridiculously fast and accurate. It's also a pretty big plus with mask mandates still in place in several countries. Yes, I know that Apple has finally added mask support to Face ID. No, it's not as accurate as Touch ID, and it also doesn't work if you're wearing sunglasses.
Opinion: Apple gave me Touch ID on a 2022 iPhone, but I want more
Either way, what's here is pretty premium. Everything from the quality of the buttons to the use of "ion strengthened glass" is very good. But a lot of good isn't enough when you're competing against surprisingly well-designed alternatives.
In fact, even the iPhone SE's IP rating isn't much of an incentive anymore, with several alternatives like the Pixel 5a or Samsung Galaxy A53 5G claiming the same. It's all very lukewarm, which is to be expected since we've seen this same phone in one form or another since 2017.
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That same sense of meh-ness continues on screen. Yes, there is a market for smaller phones with less screen real estate, but 4,7 inches is just too small. Even the genuine iPhone Mini in Apple's lineup sports a bigger screen. My experience with the 60Hz, sub-FHD retina LCD panel has been a mix of frustration and joy. But mostly frustration.
You see, the small screen and accompanying form factor has made the iPhone SE my go-to device for running. It slips easily into my pocket. As a second phone for occasional calls, this small form factor is a godsend. However, most people won't buy it as a second device and certainly not as a dedicated device to carry to the gym. Even with my small hands, typing more than a few sentences causes my hands to cramp. Watching Netflix is possible, but certainly not enjoyable. And the games? You better be prepared to squint if you want to make out text on the screen.
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This age-old design is also crippled by a Lightning connector and the slow charging speeds that come with it, but that's hardly a new concern. Luckily, the frugal battery usage and small screen meant the phone easily lasted a full day of use for me. In fact, most of the time I was able to push it to two days. But before you get excited, that's mainly because the screen is too small to encourage hours of frantic reading or gaming. Heavier tasks will most certainly take up a proportionally large chunk of the battery.
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The inclusion of wireless charging is yet another plus, though I'm certainly puzzled by the lack of MagSafe compatibility. The iPhone SE presents itself as the perfect opportunity to market MagSafe en masse, especially with accessories such as the wallet. Some might say this shows a lack of courage on Apple's part. He h.
Read more: The Best MagSafe Adapters for Your Android Phone
You've seen better camera systems
I'm not exactly sure I'm laughing or applauding Apple's bold move to continue shipping the iPhone SE with a single camera. Yes, you heard right. No ultrawide, no telephoto and certainly no macro lenses. What's even bolder is that the camera isn't state of the art either. We've seen devices like the Pixel series bring flagship-grade imaging to mass-market prices. This is simply not the case here.
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
It's certainly a serviceable camera, but it's not a class leader. The single 12MP shooter is exactly the same as what we saw on Apple's iPhone SE 2020, and the accompanying selfie camera has an equally paltry 7MP resolution. Images are good – good, even, at the right settings – but what would have been labeled one of the segment's leading cameras in 2020 doesn't quite cut it anymore. The competition has caught up and overtaken it.
In abundant light, the iPhone SE captures well-exposed photos. You also can't blame Apple's color science for the true-to-life rendering and slight bias towards warmer colors. However, the old sensor is starting to show its age with details or lack thereof. HDR performance is good, but not as good as on more premium iPhones or even some Android devices. I have observed noticeable blooming around the edges in a number of cases with strong lighting.
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I also left myself scratching my head for a night mode. The iPhone SE simply doesn't have one. Low-light images are generally sharp but introduce visible noise and grain to compensate for it. They are also, as expected, not very bright.
The iPhone SE's selfie camera isn't bad after all. There's a considerable amount of detail, but the warm color tones we've come to associate with iPhones just seem a bit overdone here. The phone didn't handle my skin tone very well and opted for a darker shade rather than a realistic one. Likewise, portrait mode on the selfie camera is decent, but perhaps a bit too aggressive in how quickly it introduces bokeh drop.
Everything about the iPhone SE appears to be the bare minimum needed to ship the product, and that extends to the cameras.
Overall, the iPhone SE's camera system is decent. Decent even. But you just can't shake the feeling that Apple approached the phone with the mindset of delivering the minimum viable hardware. From the dated main sensor to the lack of secondary sensors, that's no longer enough for a phone that costs north of $400.
Performance for days
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The one aspect of the phone I really can't fault is the performance – at least once you get past the fact that the base storage is just a tad too meager at 64GB. The iPhone SE is a rocket ship pocket with the same processor as the more expensive iPhone 13. The phone handles anything you throw at it with ease. Benchmarks, games and apps are nothing to worry about. Want to crank Genshin Impact to the highest settings on your budget phone? Dark.
The tremendous performance seems a bit wasted on the iPhone SE (2022).
That processor upgrade to the A15 Bionic, however, feels a bit wasted here. In fact, I'm convinced the upgrade is simply the result of Apple's desire to simplify its supply chain. Sure, you can game on the iPhone SE, but it's just not a comfortable experience. The screen is also too small to be used for any form of productivity application. Now, I'm not complaining about having more power for the money, but I would pause if performance was the main reason you're considering the iPhone SE.
Read more: The best 5G smartphones you can buy right now
There is, of course, an advantage to this chipset. The iPhone SE will likely receive updates for many years. Apple already offers updates to phones that are six or seven years old. The updated chipset might push that number higher. You are more likely to drain the phone battery before you start seeing performance constraints. There's certainly value in buying a phone that'll be on the latest and greatest software for years to come, but, as we'll discuss soon, there are better ways to achieve that goal.
On the connectivity side, the iPhone SE (2022) provides all the essentials, including 5G (sub-6GHz only). Notably, you don't get ultra-wideband support. That's not terribly surprising for a regular budget phone, but considering UWB technology is essential to the AirTags experience, it's an odd omission if the phone is designed as a cheap gateway to the walled garden of Apple.
A budget iPhone, but Android does it better
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The iPhone SE is a good iPhone, but it's not the phone most people should buy, for more than one reason. There are compact phones, and then there are phones that are objectively uncomfortable to use. The iPhone SE falls into the second camp. It's not unusable, but there's nothing nice about texting, gaming, reading or watching media on such a small screen. There's a reason larger screens are commonplace – they reflect common smartphone usage patterns and user preferences.
It's not just the display or the design that holds the iPhone SE back either. The camera system is yet another relic of the past. There's just no flexibility here and the arbitrary withholding of features like a night mode is, simply put, shocking.
The iPhone SE (2022) just isn't great value.
But the main reason not to buy the iPhone SE (2022) is that there are better phones you can get for your money.
At the very top of our list is the Pixel 5a ($449). the smartphone affordable from Google gives you modern conveniences like 5G support, exemplary cameras and the latest version of Android. Splurge a little more, and the Pixel 6 ($599) isn't far off either…
SOURCE: Reviews News
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